


first beginnings

by miss_universe



Series: oh, sweet sister of mine [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crack Treated Seriously, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Kid Fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pre-Canon, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-06
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-06-23 16:03:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19704745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_universe/pseuds/miss_universe
Summary: A series of firsts for Brienne of Tarth and her new sister, Phasma of Tarth.





	1. the first meeting

Brienne can still remember the day her life was changed forever.    
  
Dark grey clouds blew in from the East, big enough to cover the entire sky. The air itself was sticky and prickling, readying for a storm. The waters that Evenfall overlooked were choppy, dark and angry. The sound of the waves hitting the rocky beaches roared across the island.    
  
Brienne was sweating in one of her dresses, made from scratchy fabric that didn’t quite fit properly. She was only five years old currently - and already had grown out of a dress made for her six moons ago. It used to fit perfectly, now it ended right above her ankles, and stretched at her shoulders. Septa Roelle had tutted at her angrily once she saw, but what could Brienne do about it? If she could stop growing, she would.   
  
“Come along now,” Septa Roelle said, interrupting her thoughts. The Septa was always angry with her for something or other, and if Brienne was honest, she had to admit that she sometimes didn’t pay attention to the woman. “Your father summoned you and Galladon. He wants to talk to you about something.”   
  
“About what?” She asked, following her Septa to her fathers chambers, making sure not to trip on the woman’s dress as she so often did.   
  
“I don’t know, child.” She answered, her voice sharp. “Although I hope it’s about your lessons, and he gives you a good lashing. You’re a wild thing who needs to listen better.”   
  
Brienne scowled at Roelle’s back, sulking a bit at her cruel words. She opened her mouth to reply when she realized exactly what the Septa had said. “Thank you.” She replied with a small quirk of her lips.    
  
“It absolutely was not a compliment, you -“ Roelle cut herself off once they stood in front of her fathers chambers, smoothing out her dress before knocking on the door twice, then taking a step back.    
  
Apparently that was the right way for ladies to knock. When she had asked Septa Roelle why Galladon was allowed to pound on a door but she had to tap it, the woman told her not to ask stupid questions and pinched her hands.   
  
The door opened, and her father nodded to Roelle, dismissing her before he finally turned to his daughter and gave her a smile. The lines on his face deepened as he did. “My starburst.” He said in greeting, and she smiled back at him, wide enough that she knew her teeth were showing.    
  
“Come inside, we have something important to tell you and your brother.” Brienne nodded and followed him inside the room. He had a fire going, and four chairs around it. Two of them were occupied. One was by her brother, who was looking at the other person in the room.    
  
The other person was a girl, and even sitting down Brienne could tell that she was tall for her age. Her hair was blond, almost golden in the firelight. She turned her head and her eyes caught her attention - she recognized that same exact color from whenever she looked in the mirror. They had the same shade of blue.   
  
“Father, what’s going on? Who is she?” Galladon asked, impatient and curious as ever. He had their mother’s brown eyes, or so their father had said. Brienne wouldn’t know, she didn’t remember her.    
  
“Let’s give Brienne a chance to sit down first.” Selwyn said firmly, taking the chair next to Galladon. The only chair she could sit on was next to the mysterious girl. Brienne walked towards it cautiously, then relaxed as the girl gave her a small nod. She eased into the chair and turned to her father, wondering what was going on.   
  
“Galladon, Brienne, you know I loved your mother very much.” Selwyn began, “but she wasn’t the first woman in my life. This is Phasma, now of Tarth. She’s your sister.”   
  
Brienne gasped while Galladon started scowling, both stunned at the news. “I already have a sister.” Galladon said with a wrinkled nose, “I don’t want another one. I don’t even like the one I have! I don’t want her.”   
  
“Well, then she can be mine! I want her!” Brienne snapped back without thinking, turning to Phasma, eyes wide and hopeful. “Please don’t listen to him, I want you to be my sister!”    
  
Selwyn started to lecture Galladon, but Brienne didn’t pay attention to it, instead focusing on her new family member. Hoping Galladon hadn’t already scared her off.    
  
Phasma gave her a tiny smile. “I think that I would like to be your sister very much, Brienne.” Brienne beamed at her, her smile so wide it hurt her cheeks. Phasma’s smile grew a tiny bit at the sheer enthusiasm radiating off the girl.   
  
“Father, can I show her around? Please?” Brienne begged, interrupting his lecture. He nodded, watching them with warm eyes as Brienne grasped her new sister’s hand and tugged her out the door, intent on showing her their home.   
  
“I promise you’ll like it here. It’s very nice.” Brienne said, her smile still on her face. A sister! It was almost a dream come true. “It’s really pretty, and we can go swimming, and the food is really nice!”    
  
“Woah there!” Phasma said, amusement clear in her voice. “You’ve got to slow down a bit.”   
  
“Oh. Right.” Brienne said sheepishly, scuffing her shoe across the floor. It didn’t last long, however. Soon she was once again leading her new sister around, her large hand around her sister’s.   
  
“If we go to the kitchens first, sometimes the maids will give me some treats before supper.” Brienne confided in a whispered tone. “But only if Septa Roelle isn’t with me. She says if I eat too much, I’ll be even more like a cow. I don’t want to be a cow. I want to be a knight!”   
  
Phasma raised a delicate blond eyebrow, stopping in her tracks and gently turning Brienne to face her. She placed a hand on her cheek, cupping her face with a frown. “Your Septa said that to you?”   
  
Brienne felt her face fall. “I don’t know why I told you that.” She said softly, looking down at her feet. Phasma lifted a finger under her chin, making her look into her eyes.    
  
“Because we’re sisters, that’s why.” Phasma said gently, blue eyes meeting blue. “Sisters tell each other everything, things they don’t tell anyone else. They keep each others secrets and protect each other. You’re mine. My family.”   
  
Brienne smiled up at her, hope blooming in her stomach. “Okay. Then let me show you one of my secrets.” She dragged Phasma out past the training yard, ducking behind some trees until they were in a small meadow. A wooden sword and chainmail armor was in a pile underneath a tree, cleverly hidden by a blanket.    
  
“I come here when I hide from Septa Roelle.” Brienne said with a toothy smile. “I’m gonna be a knight. I wanna learn how to fight, since I can’t be a lady. See! I hit the tree.” She pointed to the marks across the tree, missing pieces of bark clear where her sword hit its mark. Phasma eyed it with a grin, then knelt down to be at eye-level with the younger girl.    
  
“You really want to be a fighter?” She asked, and Brienne nodded eagerly.    
  
“Okay. Then I’ll help you. I know how to fight too.” As she said this, she pulled out a small dagger from her belt, showing it to a wide-eyed Brienne. “You don’t have permission yet, so this will be our little secret.” Brienne beamed at her sister, looking at the dagger with fascination, twisting and turning it in her hands under the watchful eyes of her big sister.   
  
It would be the first secret they shared, but not the last.


	2. the first break

Phasma loved Brienne ever since the first time she saw her. The girl was as awkward as a foal, clearly still growing into herself. Her blue eyes looked exactly like Phasma’s, wide and bright. Her straw colored blond hair was braided down past her shoulders, and her lilac colored dress was slightly ill-fitting. Her smile was crooked and freckles covered her body and Phasma thought she was the best thing she had ever seen. Selwyn and Galladon were mere afterthoughts, instead all of her focus was on her little sister. Phasma was absolutely smitten with her adorable smile and the sheer delight in her eyes when she was introduced. After she had met her, Phasma had immediately discarded her half-formed plans of leaving Tarth to go back home. 

From the very first day, when Brienne had shown Phasma her secret hiding place, Phasma had decided she would do whatever it took to keep a smile on her little sister’s face. 

Brienne at five years old was a curious little thing, athletic and nosy. She would climb the rocks over the beaches, climb the trees to see how high she could go, run into meadows without any care for her dresses. She also constantly changed her mind on what she wanted to do once she was fully grown. 

“I don’t want to just be a knight.” She had said one day, curled up into Phasma’s lap as she brushed her long hair. “I want to be a Kingsguard.” 

Then, “I want to be a bounty hunter.”

Then, “I want to travel!”

Then, “I want to be a sailor! Who fights pirates!”

Galladon always tried to shoot her ideas down. “How? Your husband won’t let you. Nobody will let you, you’re a girl! Girls can’t be knights. They can be wives and mothers.” 

Brienne would stick her tongue out and reply, “If my husband doesn’t let me, I’ll...I’ll beat him up too! But my husband will, because he’ll be nice! And pretty! He’ll fight by my side. Back to back!” Then they would argue until Phasma pulled Brienne away. 

As time went on, Phasma would take her little sister out to their secret spot and give her the basics of how to hold a sword. If Brienne wanted to be able to hold a sword, Phasma would make sure she could. And Brienne hung onto her every word, wide-eyed and pleased that she was being taught. Of course, Brienne was only five, so she didn’t teach her anything close to attacking yet. Just how to hold the sword correctly, how to swing without being knocked over, and how to keep her balance. 

Brienne was a natural, as if she had been made to fight. When she was six, Phasma started adding on physical fighting, like how to make a fist and throw a punch without breaking her hand. The vulnerable parts of the body to aim for when fighting. She started begging to be taught riding, which Selwyn eventually agreed to, so long as Phasma stayed with her. 

So it was never shocking to the occupants in Evenfall when Brienne would show up with mud on her face or scratches on her palms. She usually had small bruises on her knees or on one occasion a tooth knocked out of her mouth. It was adorable, and Phasma had teased her about it for almost a month. 

As Brienne was growing into her body, however, she seemed to lose the suniness of her personality. Her grins started to become close-mouthed, and she stopped playing with the girls and boys her own age, instead sticking closer to Phasma. She would sometimes tug on her hair with a scowl on her face. The thing that alarmed Phasma the most, however, was the hostile relationship between her little brother and sister. 

Galladon’s taunts started to become more pointed. He would make fun of Brienne’s teeth, knobby legs, hair and freckles. He would follow her around and call her ugly, getting the other children to join in. Once, Phasma had caught them in the hall together, Galladon raising his hand as if to strike her. Galladon was taking after his father in body, already the size of a young squire, broad shouldered and meaty palms. 

Phasma interrupted them quickly, scolding the boy harshly and warning him to never lay a hand on her little sister again. Galladon backed down, but his eyes gleamed in a way that she didn’t like. Later, Phasma asked Brienne if he had ever hit her before that. 

She stubbornly said she was fine, and didn’t answer her, finding things to do right when Phasma was about to try and talk to her about it. She eventually backed down, but never forgot the instant wariness flashing in her sweet little sister’s blue eyes.

Then her sister's favorite doll was discovered burning in the fire, blackened and unsalvageable. Brienne stopped playing with them soon after. She stopped talking to Phasma as well, never going out to their secret spot, her head hanging low at dinner, which was one of the only times she saw her. 

Galladon’s attitude got worse as well. Phasma charmed one of the kitchen staff who kept her updated on the whispers about Evenfall. They said the boy played too roughly with his peers, disrespected his staff and sometimes hurt them in fits of anger. There were even whispers that the boy had Targaryen blood - and their madness with it. 

Phasma tried to reconnect with her sweet sister, but the girl was still avoiding her. 

The avoidance finally stopped the day the Maester interrupted Phasma’s lessons, face tensed and wary. 

“Lady Phasma.” He said, eyes flickering between her and her septa. Phasma took the nonverbal que and dismissed her, standing up from the desk. 

“What is it, Maester Frillian?” She asked, her stomach turning into knots at his expression. 

“It is Lady Brienne, she-“ As soon as she heard her sisters name, she snarled and interrupted him. 

“Where.” 

The Maester flinched at her venomous tone and told her she was resting in her room. Phasma ran out the door without a second thought, her heart thumping madly inside her chest. The world around her seemed hazy, as if she were drunk enough to not remember anything the next day. She was moving without conscious thought, her mind curiously blank. 

When she finally arrived at Brienne’s room, she flung the door open, mentally bracing herself for the worst. 

It was not as bad as she feared, but far worse than she hoped. Brienne was laying down, propped up by three pillows, her left arm bruised purple, blue and red, hanging in a sling. Her nose and eyes were red from crying, and she could still see drying tear tracks on her chubby cheeks. 

“Oh, sister.” Phasma breathed, immediately going to her sister’s right side and sitting on the bed, Brienne leaning against her side as soon as she sat down. “Little starburst. What happened?”

Brienne sniffled. “Nothing, Phasma.” She said quietly, “it was my fault.”

Phasma sighed and began stroking her blond hair, careful not to jostle her too much in fear of bringing her pain. 

“Did the maester give you milk of the poppy?” She asked, and Brienne shook her head.

“Not yet, I asked him to get you first.” She was touched at that, and pressed a kiss on the top of her sister’s head. 

“Well, you’ll drink some now, after you tell me what exactly happened to you. We vowed there would be no secrets between us, and you know that vows are the most important things to keep.” Phasma said gently, making Brienne nod grudgingly, shifting closer to her. 

“I was sitting on the beach, looking for seashells for my collection, when Galladon and his friends came by. They - they took my seashells, and when I tried to get them back, Galladon pushed me down and jumped on my arm.” Brienne said, tearing up and sniffling again while telling her tale. Phasma breathed out, holding her sister just a bit tighter. 

“Thank you for telling me, little starburst. Now drink some of your poppy.” She said, reaching for the cup on her bedside and making her sister swallow a mouthful of it. Brienne did as she was told, gulping it down quickly as if to escape the pain. Then she grabbed her hand as tightly as she could, looking up at her with wide blue eyes. 

“You’ll stay with me, right?”

Phasma gave her a smile, noticing her eyes were already drooping. “Of course.” She said quietly, lying through her teeth. 

Brienne fell asleep soon after that, and Phasma rose from the bed, brushing her sister’s hair from her forehead. 

“I’ll be back soon, little starburst.” She said quietly, slipping out the window. 

  
  
  
  


The next day, a fisherman found Galladon’s body washed up on the shore. 

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, i’m continuing this series! lemme know if you enjoy it in the comments below!
> 
> also maybe taking requests for anything you wanna see in this series, so if you’re interested drop a comment/leave me an ask on my tumblr, @missxuniverse!


End file.
